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View synonyms for heredity

heredity

[ huh-red-i-tee ]

noun

, Biology.
, plural he·red·i·ties.
  1. the transmission of genetic characters from parents to offspring: it is dependent upon the segregation and recombination of genes during meiosis and fertilization and results in the genesis of a new individual similar to others of its kind but exhibiting certain variations resulting from the particular mix of genes and their interactions with the environment.
  2. the genetic characters so transmitted.


heredity

/ hɪˈrɛdɪtɪ /

noun

  1. the transmission from one generation to another of genetic factors that determine individual characteristics: responsible for the resemblances between parents and offspring
  2. the sum total of the inherited factors or their characteristics in an organism
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


heredity

/ hə-rĕdĭ-tē /

  1. The passage of biological traits or characteristics from parents to offspring through the inheritance of genes.


heredity

  1. The passing of characteristics from parents to children. ( See genetics .)


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Word History and Origins

Origin of heredity1

First recorded in 1530–40; from Middle French heredite, from Latin hērēditāt-, stem of hērēditās “inheritance,” from hērēd- (stem of hērēs ) heir + -itās -ity
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Word History and Origins

Origin of heredity1

C16: from Old French heredite, from Latin hērēditās inheritance; see heir
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Compare Meanings

How does heredity compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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Example Sentences

“The existence of epigenetic heredity is of paramount biological relevance, but the extent to which it happens in mammals remains largely unknown,” said Drs.

Lewontin devoted nearly his entire academic career to the study of genes, the unit of heredity by which traits are passed from parent to offspring.

Sometimes the intended insights have relied on simplified scenarios that shed light on scientific questions, such as Bell’s theorem or heredity, or on philosophical questions, such as elegance in mathematics or randomness.

“We as a species need to maintain the flexibility, in the face of future threats, to take control over our own heredity,” George Daley, the dean of Harvard Medical School, told an audience in Hong Kong in 2018.

Yes, heredity is indeed far more subtle than we’d guess from the simple Mendelian mathematical rules we learned in school.

Not surprisingly, then, this is a book about heredity, about fathers and sons and their awkward relationships.

A frequently touching domestic drama about an academic Chicago family, it mulls Big Themes: war, faith, heredity.

Heredity decides how a man shall be bred; environment regulates what he shall learn.

Take away from a man all that heredity and environment have given him, and there will be nothing left.

As all men are what heredity and environment have made them, no man deserves punishment nor reward.

I doubt if most people, although they would call that a platitude, realize that heredity is anything more than a telling word.

As might be expected in this severer form of mental disturbance, heredity plays an especially important part in circular insanity.

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hereditistheredo-familial